New Delhi: Two cricketers have been in the news since the IPL 2025 auction. Both are considered to be of great talent, but their careers have become a subject of discussion for the wrong reasons. One is a former Indian cricketer, and the other is a young player. Yes, we are talking about Vinod Kambli and Prithvi Shaw. Prithvi went unsold in the auction. He was, at one point of time, even compared with Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Brian Lara. A Test debut century made him a overnight sensation.
Prithvi Shaw went up the ladder in domestic cricket when he piled up runs and attained stardom in early international cricket. But soon his career took a bad turn after earning humongous amounts in the IPL. He is now left out without a team even in the IPL. Thereafter, several experts have come in with their comments on him. Some have drawn similarities between him and Vinod Kambli. As such, Kambli again became a topic of discussion.
After going unsold in the auction, Delhi Capitals’ former talent scout and assistant coach Pravin Amre speculated that earning around ₹30-40 crore at such a young age might have derailed Prithvi Shaw’s career. Amre, who played a key role in bringing Shaw to DC, also revealed that he had previously warned Shaw by citing the example of Vinod Kambli, but it didn’t make an impact. Amre stated, “Three years ago, I gave Prithvi Shaw the example of Vinod Kambli. I’ve witnessed Kambli’s downfall closely. Teaching certain lessons to this generation is not easy.”
It began in the late 1980s and early 1990s for Vinod Kambli, alongside Sachin Tendulkar, whom he accompanied to the Indian team at roughly the same time as Sachin Tendulkar. While Tendulkar is still going and going, Kambli was considered a more skilled talent but whose career went off track at a young age, when he was just 23 years old. Since that debacle, Kambli has acted as a poster boy among youthful cricketers—but as a bad example. He became a case study of what a young cricketer should avoid doing in their career.
Early years of education at Shardashram Vidyamandir in Mumbai and close friendship between Sachin and Vinod Kambli, who started befriending each other in class 7th during an age of 10 and continued to be closely knotting with time.
Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli met each other when they were attending Ramakant Achrekar’s cricket coaching sessions during their time at Shardashram Vidyamandir School. Coach Achrekar taught them the finer aspects of cricket and taught them to be disciplined. Both Sachin and Kambli took these lessons very seriously and shaped their early cricketing journey.
Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli made history while playing for Shardashram Vidyamandir School in the Harris Shield Tournament. The duo broke a world record with a 664-run partnership against St. Xavier’s School. This great performance brought both cricketers into the limelight and got them a place in the Indian national team at a very young age.
This performance made Sachin Tendulkar a part of the Indian team in 1989. By 1992, he had already attracted attention by scoring 1,000 runs in Test cricket. On the other hand, Vinod Kambli, who first entered the Test arena in 1993, created a new milestone by reaching 1,000 runs in just 14 Test matches, which set an excellent record.
Despite debuting for India in 1991 and playing 104 ODIs and 17 Tests, Vinod Kambli’s international career lasted less than a decade. In 17 Test matches, he scored 1,084 runs at an impressive average of 54.20, including four centuries and three half-centuries. In 104 ODIs, he amassed 2,477 runs at an average of 32.59, with two centuries and 14 half-centuries.
Kambli also had an outstanding domestic career. In 129 first-class matches, he scored 9,965 runs at an average of 59.67, which included 35 centuries and 44 half-centuries. Additionally, in 221 List-A games, he accumulated 6,476 runs at an average of 41.24, with 11 centuries and 35 half-centuries.
On the 3rd of this month, a memorial for the legendary cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar was unveiled at the very famous Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were present in the event. However, Kambli’s health was so poor that he could hardly get up from his seat. He held on to Sachin’s hand for some time and joked around for a little time, but later Sachin kept moving ahead. In this encounter, the passenger beside Kambli suggested Sachin free his hand and get going. This weird encounter became quite a social media buzz later. Eventually, they were both spotted on stage, and Kambli was even seen touching Sachin’s head. Several videos of the incident are viral.
Recently, Rahul Dravid also gave his views on Vinod Kambli in a statement. He explained what might have caused Kambli to fall behind Sachin Tendulkar. In an old clip, Dravid discusses the definition of talent while mentioning Kambli’s name. In the viral clip, he gives an example of how Kambli was really good at hitting the ball but could not have perhaps been a good cricketer, which was what was lacking in his making him unable to understand what was needed to maintain himself as an international cricketer.
Dravid said, “It’s hard to explain, but some people have just the ability to time the ball and strike it. Sourav Ganguly had the natural ability to play the cover drive. You could see it. Sachin and Viru also had certain abilities. But you wouldn’t say the same about someone like Gautam (Gambhir), though it doesn’t mean Gautam was any less successful. This is how we view talent. We don’t really consider the other side of talent. We say a talented player couldn’t make a place in the team. We always look at it from that perspective, but perhaps he didn’t have other talents.”
Dravid said, “I hesitate to say this, but Vinod is probably one of the best people I’ve ever met. Vinod had an incredible ability to hit the ball. I remember a match in Rajkot where Vinod scored 150 runs against Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble. It was unbelievable. When Kumble came to bowl, Kambli hit him straight onto the stone wall on the first ball. There used to be a stone wall in Rajkot. Kambli hit a long shot, and when the ball hit the wall, it felt like an explosion. I mean, we were all stunned. We were thinking, ‘Wow, that was an amazing shot.’ But perhaps he didn’t have the understanding in other areas of how to handle the pressures of being an international cricketer. I can only speculate, but maybe Sachin had so much more. That’s why Sachin is where he is today.”
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